D23 Update

Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos from his trip to a D23 Update at the Walt Disney Studios on Thursday, December 1, 2011.

On Thursday, December 1, 2011, D23 hosted a media session to share some information on upcoming activities and I had the opportunity to attend. The event took place on the Walt Disney Studio Lot in Burbank. Below are several pictures and a couple videos that chronicle the experience.

The first stop of the day was in the Walt Disney Archives, on the first floor of the Frank G Wells building on the Disney Studio Lot in Burbank.

A quick look around the archives. If you would like a more extensive look check out my D23 section at http://www.disneygeek.com/d23 and you can see pictures from a D23 Studios and Archive tour I went on a few years ago.

A couple of Mickeys official portraits.

Some awards..

Here is a wider shot of the room. As you can see it is tight and the displays are around the outside of the space.

All Disneyland Fans remember this outfit.

Walts inspiration for audio animatronics… a mechanical bird.

Volumes of publications, books, etc.. line the one wall.

Steven Clark, head of D23, gave a brief welcome and introduction.

Becky Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives, prepares to show us some items from the collection.

First up a cell from Steamboat Willie

The script for Steamboat Willie

A soundtrack for Snow White, back before it was called a soundtrack.

Next up a book showing some concept art from Snow White since to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its release.


If you read your D23 Disney Twenty Three Magazine (the issue with the Muppets on the cover) you will know the story of the unused Dumbo sequence that was recently discovered. Here is some of that art work.

Next up from the original Mickey Mouse clubs, from the movie theater days not the TV show.


The Academy Award for one of the True Life Adventure films was brought out and if you wanted you could take your picture holding it.

Next we moved down the hall to the theater for a brief presentation on D23 that featured Steven Clark (right) and Tim O Day.

First up an overview of D23 and the philosophy of its events.

A look back at the 2011 D23 Expo. Planning is already underway for the 2013.
They have sifted through the guest feedback and are working on ways to try and make the lines more manageable. They know the D23 Expo is not Comic-Con and they want to balance the capacity, lines, and scheduling better for the next one.

Next up a look back at the Sip & Stroll that happened last Fall. It featured a celebration of Bob Gurrs 80th birthday this year.

There were several 50 and Fabulous! films presented at the Studio.

The Disney and Dickens event (the label is incorrect on here, this years is sold out already).

Magic and Merriment is running for two sessions this year to increase capacity. (I have pictures from the first one in my D23 section if anyone is interested).

Some new events this upcoming year.

The Smoke Tree Ranch Roundup will give you the opportunity to experience the ranch as Walt did and learn about some of the Disney connections such as the cabins that WED worked on.

Two of the special guests that will be at the event.

Next up a Journey to Marceline. (this will take place in conjunction with the annual Disney Shareholders meeting that will be held in Kansas City this year).

This year in addition to the 50 & Fabulous films they will host others from the vaults that are celebrating anniversaries.

There will be a round of events taking place across the country celebrating Disney Fans.

The idea behind these Fanniversary Events will be to highlight many of the milestones reached across the company. Such as Snow Whites 75th or Fantasmics 20th.

Next up Destination D, for those who have not attended one. These events focus more on the history of subject. The first one was to celebrate Disneylands 55th and as you all remember the original idea was these would run on non Expo years. But due to anniversaries and interest they are now running every year.

The second was for Walt Disney Worlds 40th. I have pictures from both of the first two if you browse the rest of the D23 section.

The 2012 Destination D will be celebrating 75 Years of Feature Animation.

It will be held at the Disneyland Hotel again this time around.

The popular studio tours will continue into 2012 and now will take place on both Sat and Sun of the selected weekends in order to double the capacity (I have pictures from one of the first ones from a few years ago in another section)

To wrap up the presentation a remind of the two D23 membership levels.

To close with a talk about the Magazine. The Spring issue of the Disney twenty-three magazine will highlight 75 years of feature animation and today they had a special treat for us. They were shooting the cover for it and we were allowed to stop by the shoot. So that was our next stop.

It is hard not to be happy standing in the shadow of the Dwarfs on the Team Disney Building and in front of the old Animation Building.

Here are several video clips from the shoot. We were not allowed to take still pictures, but video was ok. You will see:
Kathryn Beaumont, voice of Alice and of Wendy Darling


Alice Davis, Imagineer and costume designer

Lisa Davis, voice of Anita in One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Joe Hale, animation producer

Dickie Jones, voice of Pinocchio

Margaret Kerry, live-action model for Tinker Bell

Burny Mattinson, legendary storyboard artist

Floyd Norman, animator and story man

Richard Sherman, composer and lyricist

Ruthie Thompson, supervisor of Scene Planning department (Ink & Paint)

Tyrus Wong, background artist

After the photo shoot we went back inside and upstairs to the Walt Disney Archives Library. Here is the front desk area.

There were file cabinets and bookshelves filling most of the room. On top display cases.

Along the front window more items from the archives.

Working my way to the back of the library. Along the way passed a lot of wardrobe items.

Several rows of cabinets

From the Country Bears!

This is the piano that used to be in Walts Office.

What a great collection of items!

Henry’s shoes from the Country Bears.

More bookcases, displace, and wardrobe pieces.

The Roy O Disney building was being renovated so the plaque was here for safe keeping.

A wider shot of the space to show how it was set up.

There was a reception for the legends and they hung around to talk and view the archives.

A figure from WDWs Mr. Toad.

Made my way back around to the Piano.

How the Piano looked in Walts office

Steven Clark gave a brief toast and thank you to the legends.

Then a special treat for us. Richard Sherman sat down to play a couple songs for us.

He opened with Feed the Birds

Here is a video of Richard Sherman playing a couple songs from Mary Poppins… you cannot help but take yourself back to what it would have been like for Walt to hear him playing the same songs on the same piano a few buildings away.

The assembled crowd.

Posing for pictures.

Somehow he found his way back to Piano for an encore…

This video features a song from Mary Poppins that did not make it into the final film.

Continuing the look around the room at the various display cases.

This shelf actually looks a little like mine at home.. I have quite a few of these books in my library!

Thought this was a cool collection of Happy Meal toys.

Walking back through the front desk area on my way out.

Hope you enjoyed this brief tour of the Disney Archives and some information on D23. For additional photos and details from this trip or other D23 events you can check out the full Update I posted on my site in the D23 section, http://disneygeek.com

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Jason is a guest contributor from disneygeek.com sharing pictures, thoughts and observations from his Disney travels with a west coast focus. He has been posting Disney-related content to his site since 1994. He has visited all 12 Disney theme parks over the years plus has had many other Disney adventures. He is a programmer by trade, and has helped with several projects here on AllEars.net over the years.

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